The forward underwent seven operations and missed the 2011-12 season after suffering a knee injury late in his sophomore season. The Archbishop Williams product, now a graduate student, is the Ravens’ all-time leader in goals and points with two regular-season games left in his career.

By Jim Fenton

The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA

By Jim Fenton

Posted Feb. 17, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 17, 2013 at 5:00 PM

By Jim Fenton

Posted Feb. 17, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 17, 2013 at 5:00 PM

» Social News

He had played less than two seasons for the Franklin Pierce University hockey team, and already Anthony Chighisola was rolling.

The Whitman resident led the Ravens in scoring as a freshman with 26 points on 12 goals and 14 assists in the 2008-09 season to earn a spot on the All-Northeast-10 Conference rookie team, and his production was even better one year later.

But on Jan. 15, 2010, roughly two-thirds of the way through that sophomore season, Chighisola suffered a knee injury that would simply not go away, resulting in seven surgeries, one missed season and a lot of pain and anguish.

Chighisola, who played at Archbishop Williams High School, said he was leg-checked in a game against Becker College, resulting in a dislocated left kneecap and torn medial and posterior collateral ligaments.

Despite the injury, Chighisola finished out the remaining eight games of that season and wound up with 17 goals and 19 assists, making the all-conference first team after being among the NE-10 leaders.

“It hurt, but I just wanted to win here,’’ said Chighisola, the program’s all-time leader in goals and points. “I wasn’t really that limited. I couldn’t practice that well. I spent two hours in the trainer’s room just so I could skate that night.’’

He underwent two surgeries in the summer of 2010, but the knee did not respond and Chighisola managed to play only 12 games as a junior in the 2010-11 season, getting four goals and eight assists.

More operations followed, but the knee was still not coming around, and Chighisola was forced to sit out the entire 2011-12 season, his senior year.

After six operations and with graduation on the horizon, Chighisola went through one more surgery last February, an extensive one that lasted more than eight hours at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

One year later, after a long rehabilitation process, Chighisola is back with the Ravens, finishing up his career as a graduate student. He is the program’s all-time leader with 87 career points and 40 goals.

“Normal people, to be honest with you, would have called it a career,’’ said Franklin Pierce coach Jaymie Harrington. “He wasn’t ready to do that. I give him all the credit in the world for everything he’s done in regards to his rehab.’’

It was a long road back for Chighisola, who received a degree in sports management last spring and is now working on a Master’s.

He wasn’t ready for the start of this season but has played 14 of the Ravens’ 21 games, getting seven goals and six assists.

Chighisola had to endure a lot to get back on the ice, but as far as he is concerned, it was well worth it.

“This is, by far, the best year I’ve ever had playing hockey in terms of just being around the guys,’’ said Chighisola. “I really can’t thank the team enough because they were just so nice to me, letting me try to get back. Harry (coach Harrington) never gave up on me. He always pushed me.

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“The captains, Roscoe Sweeney and Dino Federico, every single day they just were always there to help me. They pretty much made my dream come true of coming back and getting back in the lineup and having a chance to play again.’’

That dream didn’t look like it was going to get fulfilled as Chighisola went through surgery after surgery and was on the sideline last season.

Chighisola was then sent to a specialist in Boston, Dr. Tom Minas, who got him back playing following the major operation a year ago. The knee had to be broken and all of the cartilage had to be replaced.

“It’s great now,’’ said Chighisola. “I owe my life to that guy. I walk with a little limp, but there’s no pain. It went unbelievable.

“I got kind of depressed when I got the surgery because when I got it, I wasn’t allowed out of my bed for the first month. I’ve never been in that much pain. There was always talk I might not come back, but all I wanted to do was get back.

“If you get a chance to play hockey, it’s something like once they take it away from you, you really want it back. I started realizing it in September when I was able to move my leg pretty well that I could play again.’’

Chighisola wasn’t ready when the Ravens’ season began, but he made steady progress and was in the lineup on Nov. 10 against Assumption College.

“I lost probably like three-quarters of my speed,’’ said Chighisola, who hopes to work in the front office of a NHL team in the future. “I’m a lot slower than I used to be. I just try to be in the right spot at the right time and I try to think ahead of the game.’’

Said Harrington: “He’s really finding his game. He’s coming pretty darn close to being the player he’s always been. To see where he’s gone, I’m just blown away by it as a coach. You don’t replace kids like Anthony. He has put so much of himself into building our program.’’

Chighisola has two games remaining before the NE-10 tournament, and that will be it for a Franklin Pierce career that had plenty of ups and downs for him. Chighisola managed to overcome a major hurdle to keep playing, even when it looked like that might not become reality.

“When the doctor told me the extent of what the last operation was going to be, we had a family talk,’’ said Chighisola. “We talked about whether it was worth it to try to come back.

“If I was not able to get back to a playing level where I was going to embarrass myself and hurt the team, then I’d hang them up. But we never really hit that point.’’